Rebirth of Mythology: When fiction & movies collide with online

Hot on the trail of Guillermo Del Toro, Dan Hon, CEO of SixToStart is building a single-platform story engine.

"In the next 10 years, we're going to see all the forms of entertainment—film, television, video, games, and print—melding into a single-platform "story engine." The Model T of this new platform is the PS3. The moment you connect creative output with a public story engine, a narrative can continue over a period of months or years. It's going to rewrite the rules of fiction."
Guillermo del Toro, in an interview with Wired

Recently I got a chance to interview Dan Hon from SixToStart at the Bloomberg Media Futures conference. It's a long video (30 mins) but this has to be one of my favourite conversations yet – so I have included a reference index below so you can lookout for the bits of the conversation you are most interested in.

However, if you are interested in movies, gaming, online PR or social networking, I defy you not to give the entire episode your complete attention as Dan is incredibly lucid on the subject of online storytelling and Alternate Reality Gaming.

"Think about the way oral tradition became written word—how what we know about Achilles was written many, many years after it made its way around the world with different names and different types of heroes. That can happen when you allow content to keep propagating itself through different kinds of platforms and engines—when you permit it to be retold with a promiscuous form of mythology. You see it when people create their own avatars in games and transfigure their game worlds."
Guillermo del Toro, in an interview with Wired

0 - 4:25
Can you tell us a bit about six to start?

4:26 – 6:30
Can you tell us a bit about your storytelling platform?

6:31- 9:20
Is there a natural evolution of stories in this format? Do stories no longer have a beginning middle and end?

9:20 – 11:15
How do writers respond to bringing 'play' into their novels? Do they have to give up control? Do other opportunities emerge?

11:15 – 14:55
What kind of experiences can someone have through stories told via SixToStarts storytelling platform?

14:55 – 17:25
Is it compulsory for the reader to move from medium to medium?

17:25 – 19:00
What is a typical session time for a story 'read' online?

19:00 – 22:20
Do people have to follow alternate reality stories as they are unfolding in real time?

22:30 – 24:20
Are these new kinds of online stories better with more people reading them?

24:20 – 25:40
How do readers gather around your story?

25:45 – 28:20
Can you tell me a bit more about your business model? What products and services does SixToStart sell?

28:30 – 29:25
What companies are you drawing inspiration from?

29:25 - 29:50
Does storytelling drive the technology or does technology drive the story?

29:50 – end
Can you point people who want to explore the concept of Alternate Reality Gaming in the right direction?